GLOBAL WATER CHALLENGE PARTNERSHIP DECLARES 22 MARCH 2008
WORLD WATER DAY

By Culturekiosque Staff

NEW YORK, 17 MARCH 2008  While our preoccupation at
Culturekiosque Cyberchef is usually haute cuisine, we remember
also that many of our fellow global citizens struggle to come up with even
the basics: food, fuel, and especially clean, safe water.

A problem long before global warming (but certainly exacerbated by it),
limited access to water supplies can be seen as one root cause behind
tragedies like the current crisis in Darfur.

To call attention to this problem and push for change, the Global Water Challenge
(GWC) has declared 22 March 2008 to be World Water Day.

Seeking to catalyze transformational change in the water and sanitation
sector, a diverse coalition of corporations, foundations, and aid
organizations, launched this partnership to build healthy communities and
provide sustainable solutions to ensure the availability of potable water
for those in need.

From their website:

...for more than 1.1 billion people around the world, water is a
constant concern. Where will their next drink come from? Will it be
clean? Will it last?

Suitable sanitation facilities are in even
shorter supply. Basic human privacy and dignity are lost to 2.6 billion
people who have no place to use the bathroom.

And these problems
will get worse. In the near future, water scarcity will lead to even
greater suffering for the world's poorest.The goal of the GWC is to
bring safe water and sanitation to millions by identifying and
multiplying the solutions that work.

Solutions exist today to tackle this challenge. Scores of dedicated
aid organizations are working throughout the developing world on the
crisis but lack the resources and pathways necessary to scale-up
effective approaches. That is why GWC is committed to Learning from past projects,
Connecting those who can
help each other, andInvesting new resources and time.